Her Queen
by Kasanra
Summary: Lara made it only a few steps before her legs gave out. She fell back, doing nothing to break her fall lest she drop her precious burden. Her side popped and started bleeding, her vision blurred and her head throbbed. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Nothing mattered. Sam was safe. COMPLETE.


**AN:** This takes place right after Lara saved Sam.

.

Lara made it only a few steps before her legs gave out. She fell back, doing nothing to break her fall lest she drop her precious burden. Her side popped and started bleeding, her vision blurred and her head throbbed. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Nothing mattered.

Nothing but her friend who was so warm _so warm_. Her Sam who was so still _so still_. Her Queen who still breathed _still breathed_.

Lara wrapped her friend in trembling arms and cried.

She couldn't move. For the last few... days...? ... weeks...? Ever since coming to this cursed island, Lara lived off the motto 'keep moving'. Just keep moving _just keep moving _just _keep_ **_moving_**. And she did. _She did._ She ran while the very earth collapsed around her. And when towns and buildings burned. She even tried to outrun a crashing plane and kind of succeeded _kind of su_-

Usually, standing still meant her death. _Her death_. By all of that or by the hands of the Solarii _the Solarii_.

The only one to tell her to 'stop' was Roth and he was dead now. Dead _dead **dead**_. Breath of life then axe in back. _In the back_. For her. Saved her. He's dead now.

It didn't matter. No, it didn't. Nothing did now. _Not now_.

She saved Sam. Father Mathias is dead. He fell. Over and down_ down **down**_ leaving her alone with the Queens. The Queen. _Her _Queen. The stormguards - Oni? - collapsed in on themselves. It's possible the Solarii were still around but it didn't matter. Sam was safe now_ safe now_. She was safe now.

Lara eased back a bit. Her friend looked so peaceful. So untouched by this island. It was a lie. She could still hear her Sam screaming _screaming_. So much pain. Pain Lara didn't know. Couldn't know? Lara touched her friend's face and remembered it painted orange in firelight, black in the dark, white in the spotlight, and blue in the Sun Queen's power. Now she seemed to glow in the sun_ the sun to glow_.

Lara looked around. The mountain top was nearly flat, the temple ripped apart by the Sun Queen's fury _her fury_. There was no cover. No, none at all. Despite all the troubles she had in small spaces - _underground, tight, small, dark spaces_ - Lara had been caught out in the open too many times, _too too_ _many times_, to be comfortable there. And she had to protect the Sun Queen._ The Sun Queen_.

No.

No no no no, Lara shook her head. Sam. She had to protect Sam. Sam. The Sun Queen was dead _dead **dead**_. She killed her. With a torch. A _torch_! **Ha ha**. _Her most unique kill yet._

Yet? No. No. She didn't have to kill anymore. Sam was safe. _Safe_. Sam was safe.

Lara staggered to her feet and started walking. She could hear the clanking of her weapons brushing against eachother. It would probably be easier to carry Sam on her back, but Lara gathered strength in the proof. Proof that Sam was safe. Her friend. Her Sam.

Was this how the Stormguard General felt? What would it feel like to fail her queen? Lara had an idea but she didn't fail. Her Queen was safe _safe_. What was General said...?

"My Queen, as I stand in your light, I swear this oath of allegiance to you..." Lara mumbled softly,_ so softly_. Too softly. A gentle breeze stirred and carried the rest of the words as they left her mouth. "... I am your First... and General of your armies... I will stand by your side... the rest - the remainder of my days, _my days_, and leave... only when you say..." ? That sounded wrong. "If I should fail, my life is forfeit _forfeit_." This part she remembered. "My heart beats at your command, my breath is drawn at your pleasure, _your pleasure_. From this moment onwards, I answer only to you, _only you_."

Blue motes shimmered in the sun

_the sun_

.

**AN:** Yeah, my Lara's mind broke.


End file.
